Don’t Go it Alone for your NNAT Child

Many NNAT parents try to go it alone. They do all the research about the test, the best ways to prepare their children, what score they’ll need to achieve, and everything else by themselves. There are a number of possible reasons for this: they don’t want other parents to know how hard they are preparing their child, either because they don’t want competition or they’re embarrassed that they’re actually taking the test seriously. Or the parent simply thinks the process is easy and straightforward, and if they charge ahead they’ll be able to achieve their aims flying solo. Or – and this is the saddest one of all – they aren’t confident in their child’s ability to do well on the test and so keep their plans a secret; this way, if their child doesn’t make the cut, it won’t look like they have “tried and failed.”

Well, I have news not just for NNAT parents but for any parent out there: not only does that strategy most often fail, it doesn’t serve your child’s best interests. The most successful people – and parents – are those who aren’t afraid to ask for help. Take a look at these mentors and what their mentees went on to achieve:

• Anne Sullivan (teacher): mentor of Helen Keller;
• Frank Lloyd Wright (architect): mentor of Francis Conroy Sullivan (also an architect)
• Haldor Rosvold (neuroscientist): mentor of Dr. Patricia Goldman-Rakic (Yale professor and neuroscientist/neurobiologist)
• Dr. Sam Gruber (shark biologist): mentor of to Tim Calver (underwater and travel photographer);
• Donald Spencer (mathematician): mentor of John Nash (mathematician and Nobel Prize winner); and
• Benjamin Graham (Columbia University professor) and Howard Buffett (dad): mentors of Warren Buffett (CEO, Berkshire Hathaway).

I am amazed and inspired every time I look at this list as I’m sure you are too! It just goes to show that even the people we think “know it all” learned a lot from others, and, more importantly, that they weren’t afraid to ask for help when they needed it.

Keep this in mind the next time you think you’re serving your NNAT child’s best interests by going it alone. Seek out a mentor who knows what they’re doing – some websites have online expert answers for parents facing the NNAT test.

Taking an NNAT Break Over the Holidays

As every NNAT parent knows, it’s officially that time: Holiday season! This is such a wonderful time of year, allowing us to spend time with far-flung friends and relatives, and reminding ourselves of what’s really important in life. Even with the bustle and stress of holiday shopping and preparing our home for visiting family, once the holidays actually come it doesn’t get much better than sitting around the fire with the ones we love, reminiscing on old times and looking forward to the year ahead.

That said, if you’re preparing your little one for the NNAT test, it can be stressful to take a break for even a few days. Especially if the test is just months or weeks away, it’s easy to end up spending all your down time thinking and obsessing about the test. Here are a few ways to make sure your child is prepared for the test while also enjoying the holidays:

• Bake cookies with your child. Baking cookies is a time-honored holiday tradition, and it can also serve to boost your child’s math and concentration skills! Have your child measure out the ingredients, then have them determine what time the cookies will be ready to come out of the oven. Here are some great holiday cookies you can make with your child: http://allrecipes.com/recipes/holidays-and-events/christmas/desserts/christmas-cookies/
• Have your NNAT child count and organize gifts. As you’re preparing to put gifts under the tree or on the mantle, have your child count and organize gifts so that you know everyone’s presents are accounted for.
• Play holiday music with your child. If your child plays an instrument, get them some holiday sheet music so they can practice sight-reading. If your child doesn’t play an instrument, the holiday break is a great time to introduce the idea! Reading and playing music is great practice for learning a language and so many other things.

So relax and enjoy the holidays with your family. The NNAT test will be waiting for you on the other end!

An NNAT Guide to Surviving the Cold

It’s that time of year for NNAT parents again. The weather is getting colder and colder, and it’s only bound to get worse in the weeks and months ahead.

So the real question is: what will you and your children be doing ALL WINTER LONG, holed up together, day in and day out, especially on long, cold weekends?

Well, have no fear, because I put out my feelers to an online parent group to discover what these bright and resourceful parents have up their sleeves for the blustery days and months ahead.  Here’s what they said, which might also provide you and your NNAT child with some fun ideas:

• “Since we’ll be inside all day, I try to make it fun, and because we have three girls (and girls love slumber parties), we’ve instituted an all-day Pajama party…so it’s like a fun sleepover, but at your own house.  We pop popcorn, have a movie fest, play games, give mani/pedis and more.  It’s a fun way to make being inside tolerable!”
• “We play “Chefs for the Day,” where everyone in the family is in the kitchen most of the day as a team, coming up with recipes for each meal (including Pizza du Jour and cookies for dessert) and taking turns at the assorted kitchen tasks, including the prep work, the cooking AND the cleaning.  And, although the cleaning part would seem grueling, we make it fun by playing our favorite songs and singing along while doing the dishes.  And, in between meals there’s always time for a nap!”
• “Being indoors all day with small children can be a nightmare if you don’t find ways to put their non-stop energy to work.  So, we institute fun family activities including dance offs and pillow fights, where even our dog Riley gets involved.  And, during the dance offs, everyone gets to pick their favorite song and the entire family dances to each song and then we vote on “Best Moves.”  It gives us exercise and lots of laughs, especially when my husband dances!”

I loved reading about these parents at play with their NNAT children, creating lifelong memories with their kids.  It created such vivid visuals in my mind and even made me a little bit excited about the cold days ahead!

What do you do to make it through long winter days? Share in the comments!

How to Combat the Naysayer NNAT Parents

In our last post, we discussed the “naysayer NNAT parents” who make up for their own children’s deficiencies not by better preparing them for testing and for school, but instead by tearing down other people’s children in an effort to put everyone on “equal footing.”

These sorts of parents are toxic – and, unfortunately, they’re all too common. If you let them get to you it could severely impact your own commitment to your child’s educational path and, by extension, the options that your child has in school and in life.

So, it’s important for NNAT parents like yourself to commit to your vision and set out a strategy to combat these naysayer parents. How can I do this, you ask? Here are some good ways to drown out the negative Nellies:

• Embrace an unshakeable resolve regarding your plan.   Set your sights on your goal and become unstoppable.
• Remember that you’re not asking for these parents’ permission.  You don’t need anyone’s permission to prepare your child for the NNAT test and give them the best education possible.
• Decide not to engage these parents in the discussion.  You can choose not to listen to what they say by letting it go in one ear and out the other or by simply walking away.  Engaging with them is a waste of energy and time.
• Choose not to embody their fears.  Their fears about their child’s lack of aptitude are theirs, not yours, so do NOT own their fears about your goals.
• Partner with positive, like-minded people.  Forge relationships that will help mentor you and your child along the journey.

As Gandhi stated so eloquently, “First they ignore you.  Then they laugh at you.  Then they fight you.  Then you win.” The important thing is that you get your child ready for the NNAT test and make them confident in their abilities. It’s not your job to impress other parents – and in fact trying to do so may actually hurt your own child’s chances.

The Naysayer NNAT Parents

Any parent who’s prepared their child for the NNAT or a similar test has had encounters with what I call “the naysayers.” These are the frowny-faced parents who question and criticize our decisions under the guise that they care and have our best interests at heart.  But, nine times out of ten, these naysayer parents secretly don’t want our children to outshine or outperform theirs.

These are parents who like to play things safe.  Naysayer parents like to blend into the wallpaper and hope you will too. They don’t want you to adequately prepare your child for the NNAT because that decreases their child’s chances of doing well on the test or advancing in school.

Why would a parent purposely tell you not to prepare your child for the test? There are a few reasons this might happen:

• They feel inadequate and insecure.  Knowing their kid doesn’t have a chance to pass that test, they want to ensure that other kids don’t pass it either, thereby making their own child look “smart” (or at least average!).
• They feel threatened.  If their child doesn’t measure up, it can be threatening to see someone else’s child being successful, and they don’t want to be reminded of their child’s inadequacies.
• They’re jealous.  Seeing our child speed past theirs is upsetting.  They are envious and therefore they seek revenge.
• They’re selfish.  It’s the old adage, “If I can’t have it, no one else can either!”
• They’re scared. They’ve never tried what you’re setting out to do, so they’re scared that you’ll succeed. And, they’re scared to discover that they’ve been undermining their potential and their child’s.

It’s important not to let the naysayers get you down or derail your goal of fully and properly preparing your child for the NNAT test. In our next post, we’ll talk about ways to arm yourself against the naysayers who have no interest in seeing your child succeed.

 

Preparing for the NNAT Test During the Holidays

Preparing for the NNAT test doesn’t have to be a chore. Especially around the holidays, there are so many ways to simultaneously prepare for the test and also have a good time, while building the skills your child needs to be successful in school.

For nonverbal or visual questions, show your child how ornamets fit onto the tree. Or make a big Christmas cookie and carve it into different pieces, then challenge your child to put it back together. This is a great way to make the most of the time you’ll spend having holiday fun this year.

You can also use fun, creative holiday-themed stickers and other materials to dress up your NNAT practice and get your child in the spirit of both the holidays and the test! If your child is getting antsy during test prep, sing the text of a question to the tune of a Christmas carol!

No matter what time of the year it is, the key to making sure your child stays focused and motivated around preparing for the test is to make sure it’s fun for them. No child wants to sit in a chair for hours on end staring at a boring workbook. Of course, your child will have to spend some time with traditional test prep materials, but you don’t want this to be their only exposure to the material before the day of the NNAT test.

Don’t get into a rut with your child’s test prep. This will not only cause your child to get bored and antsy – it may even contribute to test anxiety that can cause them to do worse than their potential on the test. And, of course, if you’re anxious about the test, it will rub off on your child.

So enjoy the holidays – while preparing for the NNAT!